The quiet study of the Scriptures, the example
of his pious mother, the acquaintance with Bishop Meletius, and the
influence of his intimate friend Basil, who was of the same age and
devoted to ascetic life, combined to produce a gradual change in
his character.55Socrates and
Kurtz (in the 10th edition of his Kirchengeschichte,
I. 223), confound this Basil with Basil the Great of Cappadocia,
who was eighteen years older than Chrysostom and died in 379.
Chrysostom’s friend was probably (as Baronius and Montfaucon
conjecture) identical with Basil, bishop of Raphanea in Syria, near
Antioch, who attended the Council of Constantinople in 381. Comp.
Stephens, l. c. p. 14; and Venables in Smith & Wace, I.
297.

He entered the class of catechumens, and after the
usual period of three years of instruction and probation, he was
baptized by Meletius in his twenty-third year (369 or 370). From
this time on, says Palladius, “he neither swore, nor defamed any
one, nor spoke falsely, nor cursed, nor even tolerated facetious
jokes.” His baptism was, as in the case of St. Augustin, the
turning point in his life, an entire renunciation of this world and
dedication to the service of Christ. The change was radical and
permanent.

Meletius, who foresaw the future greatness of the
young lawyer, wished to secure him for
7the active service of the church, and ordained
him to the subordinate office of rector (anagnostes,
reader), about A.D. 370. The rectors
had to read the Scripture lessons in the first part of divine
service (the “Missa Catechumenorum”), and to call upon the
people to pray, but could not preach nor distribute the
sacraments.

The first inclination of Chrysostom after
baptism was to adopt the monastic life as the safest mode,
according to the prevailing notions of the church in that age, to
escape the temptations and corruptions of the world, to cultivate
holiness and to secure the salvation of the soul. But the earnest
entreaties of his mother prevailed on him to delay the
gratification of his desire. He relates the scene with dramatic
power. She took him to her chamber, and by the bed where she had
given him birth, she adjured him with tears not to forsake her.
“My son,” she said in substance, “my only comfort in the
midst of the miseries of this earthly life is to see thee
constantly, and to behold in thy features the faithful image of my
beloved husband who is no more. This comfort commenced with your
infancy before you could speak. I ask only one favor from you: do
not make me a widow a second time; wait at least till I die;
perhaps I shall soon leave this world. When you have buried me and
joined my ashes with those of your father, nothing will then
prevent you from retiring into monastic life. But as long as I
breathe, support me by your presence, and do not draw down upon you
the wrath of God by bringing such evils upon me who have given you
no offense.”66De Sacerd. I. 5.

These tender, simple and impressive words suggest
many heart-rending scenes caused by the ascetic enthusiasm for
separation from the sacred ties of the family. It is honorable to
Chrysostom that he yielded to the reasonable wishes of his devoted
mother. He remained at home, but turned his home into a monastery.
He secluded himself from the world and practiced a rigid
asceticism. He ate little and seldom, and only the plainest food,
slept on the bare floor and frequently rose to prayer. He kept
almost unbroken silence to prevent a relapse into the habit of
slander.

His former associates at the bar called him
unsociable and morose. But two of his fellow-pupils under Libanius
joined him in his ascetic life, Maximus (afterwards bishop of
Seleucia), and Theodore of Mopsuestia. They studied the Scriptures
under the direction of Diodorus (afterwards bishop of Tarsus), the
founder of the Antiochian school of theology, of which Chrysostom
and Theodore became the chief ornaments.77
Socrates and Sozomenus represent Diodor and Karterius as
abbots under whom Chrysostom lived as monk, but
Neander (in the 3d ed. I. 29) thinks it more likely that
Chrysostom was previously instructed by Diodor at
Antioch.

Theodore was warmly attached to a young lady
named Hermione, and resolved to marry and to leave the ascetic
brotherhood. This gave rise to the earliest treatise of
Chrysostom—namely, an exhortation to Theodore, in two letters.88Parænesis ad Theodorum Lapsum, in
Migne’s ed. I., Pars I. 277–319. The second letter is
milder than the first, and was written earlier. It is somewhat
doubtful whether the first refers to the same case. Neander (I. 38 sq.) conjectures that the second
only is addressed to Theodore. He plied all his oratorical arts of
sad sympathy, tender entreaty, bitter reproach, and terrible
warning, to reclaim his friend to what he thought the surest and
safest way to heaven. To sin, he says, is human, but to persist in
sin is devilish; to fall is not ruinous to the soul, but to remain
on the ground is. The appeal had its desired effect; Theodore
resumed his monastic life and became afterwards bishop of
Mopsuestia in Cilicia and one of the first biblical scholars. The
arguments which Chrysostom used, would condemn all who broke their
monastic vows. They retain moral force only if we substitute
apostasy from faith for apostasy from monasticism, which must be
regarded as a temporary and abnormal or exceptional form of
Christian life.

5Socrates and
Kurtz (in the 10th edition of his Kirchengeschichte,
I. 223), confound this Basil with Basil the Great of Cappadocia,
who was eighteen years older than Chrysostom and died in 379.
Chrysostom’s friend was probably (as Baronius and Montfaucon
conjecture) identical with Basil, bishop of Raphanea in Syria, near
Antioch, who attended the Council of Constantinople in 381. Comp.
Stephens, l. c. p. 14; and Venables in Smith & Wace, I.
297.

7
Socrates and Sozomenus represent Diodor and Karterius as
abbots under whom Chrysostom lived as monk, but
Neander (in the 3d ed. I. 29) thinks it more likely that
Chrysostom was previously instructed by Diodor at
Antioch.

8Parænesis ad Theodorum Lapsum, in
Migne’s ed. I., Pars I. 277–319. The second letter is
milder than the first, and was written earlier. It is somewhat
doubtful whether the first refers to the same case. Neander (I. 38 sq.) conjectures that the second
only is addressed to Theodore.